Athletics News

Bolt sets his sights on 400m world record - in 2010

Dec 15, 2008, 20:05 GMT

London - Usain Bolt looks to add Michael Johnson's 400 metres world record to his 100m, 200m and 4x100m marks, the triple Olympic champion told the BBC in an interview to be broadcast later Monday.

But Bolt told BBC's Inside Sport that he won't attempt to crack what would then be the 11-year-old mark until until 2010. Johnson ran 43.18 seconds at the 1999 world championships in Seville Spain.

'Everyone wants to do it. There are no major championships in 2010 so I could go for the 400m record that year,' he said.

Bolt lowered his 100m record to 9.69 seconds, bettered Johnson's 200m mark to 19.30 seconds and was part of Jamaica's relay record team with 37.10 seconds en route to three golds at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Bolt has toyed with the 400m in the past.

'The training for 400m is so much harder but I'm thinking about it,' he said.

Bolt was criticised by Olympic supremo Jacques Rogge for his celebrations ahead of the 100m finish line, but reiterated he had done nothing wrong.

'There are better starters than me but I'm a strong finisher. I knew I had won the race at 75m, so that's when I started celebrating. I didn't care about the time. It was the first time anyone from my country had won the 100m,' Bolt said.